New Mower Manufacturer Focuses on Style and Performance

How does a longtime manufacturer of outdoor wood furnaces get into manufacturing commercial mowers? With a flair if you’re Dennis Brazier and his wife, Terri, co-owners of Altoz Precisions Mowers.(Pictured: Mark Reese, chief engineer, and Dennis and Terri Brazier)

Undaunted by a seeminlgy already crowded commercial mower market, the couple at this year’s GIE+EXPO rolled their version of what zero-turn mowers should look like – styled and sleek. And the mowers turned heads in Louisville.

Could it be that Altoz can make mowing sexy? OK, that’s stretching a point, but one look at a new Altoz and it’s apparent that the company gave a lot of thought to their units’ appearance.

"Who wouldn’t be proud to have one of these in their garage," asked Dennis rhetorically pointing to one of his shiny red zero-turns during a press conference at the EXPO? To which, this editor asked if a professional operator might be equally impressed with its performance.

Without hesitation Brazier insisted that his machines’ performance, even in the toughest mowing environments, matches its styling in both design and manufacture.

"We want to build the Altoz brand by focusing on styling and performance," he insisted.

The Altoz line of mowers (18 different model combinations) comes out of Greenbush, a town of about 700 people in far north Minnesota. It’s here that the Braziers also founded and operate Central Boiler, a 30-year-old company that manufacturers outdoor wood furnaces.

Brazier said he drew upon that company’s manufacturing expertise – including 12 experienced engineers and skilled workforce – to design, test and, eventually begin manufacturing Altoz mowers. While Central Boiler and Altoz Precision Mowers are separate companies, he’s counting on some of the dealers handling the outdoor wood furnace products to also carry Altoz mowers.

"They must meet certain criteria to also be an Altoz dealer," he said, adding that building out a network of dealers is one his goals.

There are four different lines of Altoz mowers with units priced and with features for both estate owners (the so-called prosumer segment) to the heavy-duty commercial mowers up to 72-inch cuts with 35 hp and 37 hp Kawasaki engines.

For more information about specific models and features visit www.altoz.com.